1977 IMO Problems/Problem 1

Problem

In the interior of a square $ABCD$ we construct the equilateral triangles $ABK, BCL, CDM, DAN.$ Prove that the midpoints of the four segments $KL, LM, MN, NK$ and the midpoints of the eight segments $AK, BK, BL, CL, CM, DM, DN, AN$ are the 12 vertices of a regular dodecagon.

Solution

Just use complex numbers, with $a = 1$, $b = i$, $c = - 1$ and $d = - i$. With some calculations, we have $k = \frac {\sqrt {3} - 1}{2}( - 1 - i)$, $l = \frac {\sqrt {3} - 1}{2}(1 - i)$, $m = \frac {\sqrt {3} - 1}{2}(1 + i)$ and $n = \frac {\sqrt {3} - 1}{2}( - 1 + i)$. Now it's an easy job to calculate the twelve midpoints and to find out they are all of the form $\frac {\sqrt {3} - 1}{2}e^{\frac {k\pi}{6}i}$, with $k\in\mathbb{N}: 0\le k\le 11$, and the result follows.

The above solution was posted and copyrighted by Joao Pedro Santos. The original thread for this problem can be found here: [1]

See Also

1977 IMO (Problems) • Resources
Preceded by
First Question
1 2 3 4 5 6 Followed by
Problem 2
All IMO Problems and Solutions